The Infiltration
by The Real Runey
Summary: AU. Gran never shows up to stop Burn from joining the Raimon Eleven, and he infiltrates their ranks. Burn manages to convince the others at Aliea that it's a good idea, so they reluctantly let them go with it, but is Burn really doing this for Aliea's interests, or his own?
1. Chapter 1

**Well, I'm back. or at least trying to come back. Warning: Long intro incoming. Another series?! Finish** **what you** **'ve already started, darn it! I** **keep yelling these words at myself. And don't worry-I will definitely finish everything I've already started. Eventually.**

 **I got this idea while watching episode 48 of Inazuma. I thought, what would happen if Gran/Hiroto never showed up to hinder Burn/Nagumo? I was also greatly inspired by a 'what-if' collab story called Redemption by vanerz and envysparkler. If you haven't read it, it's amazing and you definitely should! After you finish this, of course. Or not. Theirs is probably better, haha.**

* * *

"I'm Nagumo Haruya. The flame striker you're looking for is probably me." A haughty smirk followed this statement. Burn almost laughed at the disappointment and slight surprise that he saw on the Raimon members' faces. He knew they were hoping for Gouenji. Of course, Gouenji wouldn't come to them, not when Aliea had him on a leash. It was almost too perfect. This rumor about a flame striker was the perfect opportunity to infiltrate Raimon. Well, he had to qualify first, but that would be easy.

"Let me show you...my shoot!"

* * *

After he'd showed the two Atomic Flare, they immediately agreed to take him to the other members. It was too easy.

"Hey!" The scarf kid-Fukubi or something-turned suddenly to run up a flight of stairs.

"We found the flame striker!" The lanky one-was it Dominic? Whatever, he couldn't be bothered with their names-followed suit at the same pace. Burn snickered to himself and simply walked up the steps.

Once again, the Prominence captain had to hold in his amusement at the sheer melancholy on everyone's faces. Their expressions were truly comical; had they really been that sure it was going to be their beloved Gouenji? A few of them murmured things about it not being him. They really had put their hopes high.

"Who's that?"

"This is Hijikata. He lives around here. We were asking him a few things."

Burn turned his attention to the one who'd answered. Endou. The one Gran was so enamored with. Why, though? He didn't look like anything special at all. He didn't look weak, but he didn't seem strong either. Of course, appearances could be deceiving. The Prominence captain was determined to figure out what made this Raimon team so interesting to everyone-and so dangerous.

"But there's no need for that anymore." The scarf kid smiled cheerfully.

"The flame striker is this guy, Nagumo."

"That's how it is." Burn said, a trademark sneer still on his face. "I'm Nagumo Haruya. You're the captain, Endou? Nice to meet you."

Endou smiled back at him, but it was a forced smile. "Yeah...Nice to meet you."

"This guy heard we were looking for him and came to find us." The lanky guy explained.

"Do you live around here?" A girl with fluffy pink hair and a weird hat asked.

Crap. He hadn't really thought about how to answer questions like that. "Well, sure." He said quickly, silently hoping that his uncertainty hadn't leaked onto his face or into his voice.

"Really?" Burn jumped a bit as the giant guy from before-Fijikata? Whatever-showed up in his peripheral vision out of the blue. His eyes met suspicious ones. "I've never seen your face around here."

"I've never seen you either." Good, keep going like this. Stand your ground.

A girl with glasses on her head turned to the spiky-haired midget next to her. "What's wrong?"

"He reeks like something of a nasty guy." His yellow eyes were serious.

Crap. Keep cool. Don't let your irritation show on your face. Burn balanced his soccer ball on his foot as an excuse to look at something.

"Show them what you showed us earlier." Lanky guy said.

The scarf kid nodded slightly. "It was a really powerful shoot."

At this, a large wave of pride shot through Burn. He could totally do this. After they saw his awesome shoot, they'd let him in no problem. It would be a cinch. "It'd be boring to just show them."

"Meaning...?" One of the other members questioned. He didn't bother to look at the owner of the voice.

"Why don't you give me a test? See if my strength is good enough for your team with your own eyes." Burn gave himself an internal pat on the back for coming up with such a great idea. "Raimon Eleven versus me. How about it? If I manage to get a point from you, I win and pass the test."

"Even though he wants us to test him, he's arranging it all." The pink-haired girl from before mumbled.

"That's some solid confidence." The coach spoke up from behind him.

"I say it because I've got it." Burn grinned, self-inflating his ego further.

Endou nodded. "All right, let's do the test!"

"This sounds kind of exciting!" The largest member of the team said.

He had them. They really were too friendly. He could easily get this point from them. He had no idea what he was worried about. He would get the point and infiltrate Raimon before they knew what had happened to them.

"Tachimukai!"

"Yes!" A scrawny-looking kid answered.

"Want to try being the goalkeeper?"

"Is that okay?"

What? No, he was going to shoot against this Endou that was so special. "Oh, I can't have that. I want to play with the ones who fought against the aliens." Endou looked almost ticked off by this, Burn observed...almost. "Seriously now."

'I'll show you my crimson flames.' He thought.

* * *

Burn waited impatiently as Raimon changed into their jerseys and wandered into their formation. He took this excruciating amount of time to study the players. Some of them didn't look like anything special, but a few looked sharper than the others. There was a guy wearing goggles and a cape. That was kind if weird, even for Aliea standards. He seemed to be respected by everyone on the team, and the way he carried himself let on that he was skilled. The spiky-haired midget that was suspicious of him looked weak at first glance, but the gleam in his eyes told Burn that he was a keen observer, and that he knew more than he pretended to. A guy with brown hair that had a blue-haired girl clinging to his arm at all times had an air of experience around him as well. However,he didn't just pick out the strong ones. A skinny guy with glasses and a high-pitched voice instantly stood out to him as the absolute worst out of then. Why was he even on the team?

Finally, they had finished getting into position. "Are you ready?" The ref called out.

"Have been for ages!" Burn answered, relieved that the wait was over. He looked across the field through the other players to Endou. Here was his chance to see how magical this goalkeeper really was. There was no way he'd be able to stop Aromic Flare, obviously, but still.

"Endou! Get ready for this!"

And then the ref blew the whistle. Burn lightly kicked the ball in front of him. Raimon started running forward to attack immediately. Narrowing his eyes and laughing, Burn sent the ball straight into the air, jumping after it. He laughed again at the exclamations of surprise he heard. He didn't blame them; he was incredible and awe-inspiring, after all. He was far better than a human.

Pink hair girl and scarf kid both tried to stop him with their hissatsus, but the striker easily broke through them. Scarf kid leaped up to try and retrieve the ball, but he just couldn't jump high enough. Burn noticed a strange look in his eyes, but payed it no notice. The remaining two defenders, Fatso and Midget, ran at him, but he jumped up before they could get to him just like the other ones. And then Endou was the only player he faced.

"I'll burn you with my crimson flames!" Burn kicked the ball higher than he had in the rest of this short contest, following after it. "Atomic Flare!"

The fiery shoot zoomed down toward Endou. Burn watched intently as he fell to his feet.

"All right, bring it!" Endou exclaimed, getting into position for his hissatsu. Orange energy surrounded the goalkeeper, but Burn could tell that it wouldn't be enough. He smirked.

"Majin the Hand!" Burn hummed in interest. Endou's technique appeared, but to no avail. Burn's shoot blasted through Endou's defenses immediately. He wasn't bad, but he was no match. Burn was honestly a little disappointed-just the tiniest bit.

Endou sat up in the goal area, shaking his head to recover. A big grin came to his face. "That was awesome, Nagumo!"

Nagumo proudly put his hands on his hips. "Of course. If I join, those aliens don't have a prayer!" It felt a little funny to say that, but whatever. "Did I pass the test?"

Endou nodded as he walked up to Burn. "Of course! Let's play together on the team!" Endou grinned even wider and stuck out his hand. "Great to have you, Nagumo!"

Burn extended his own hand and clasped Endou's. For some reason, he felt compelled to compliment Endou's effort. "Majin the Hand wasn't bad." Endou just blinked, making a slightly confused noise.

"Does that mean that he's gonna be a 2-top with me from now on?" The blue haired girl piped up, pointing a finger at him.

Burn snickered to himself. From what he'd seen, this girl was countless levels below him. "I'll be enough as the only forward."

"He's no pleaser..." She muttered.

"Coach!" Endou shouted over at the bench. "Nagumo's joining the team. Is that okay?"

The coach stood from the bench. "I'll acknowledge that you'd be a good asset to the team. But before that, I have a few questions for you."

"...Crap." Burn whispered, forgetting to voice his thoughts to himself. Luckily, it seemed like no one had heard him. "Sure." He called back.

"If you want to fight with us, I'll have the responsibility of watching over you." She said as she walked over to him. "First off, what school are you from?"

He bit back a curse. Why did it have to be the one question he couldn't fake an answer to easily? "I'm actually...homeschooled." Burn said quickly. He felt a bit proud of his fast thinking, but he wasn't out of the woods yet.

"Homeschooled...?" The coach rested her fingers on her chin, deep in thought. "Hm...I hadn't really thought of what to do in that case..."

Burn swallowed. A slight panic rose in him. Sure, he didn't have to come up with a school, but the coach may ask to speak to his guardian or something along those lines. What was he going to say then?

Sure enough... "I'd like to speak to whoever your guardian is, Nagumo. I need to discuss this with them."

He could feel himself starting to sweat. What the heck did he say now...? Wait, no, he could do this. "They're on a business trip at the moment."

"I see..." The coach sighed. "Do you have any relatives around?"

"I'm afraid not."

"Then do you think you could call your parent for me so that I can explain the situation?"

"Yeah." This was it! He could call someone at Aliea and have them pretend to be his parent! "Give me a minute." Nagumo pulled his cell phone out of his pocket, walking off by himself. He called the first number he saw in his contacts. "Please pick up, please pick up...yes!" Burn put the phone to his ear quickly, glancing back to make sure he was out of the earshot.

"Gazel, it's me."

"Burn? Why the hell are you calling me?"

"There's no time to explain. I need you to find one if the adult staff. I don't care who it is, just find one and give them your phone so that I can talk to them."

"What are you...?" Gazel hesitated and then sighed. "...Fine, but if whatever you're doing gets you in trouble, I never had anything to do with it. Got it?"

"Yeah, yeah, just hurry up already!"

Burn could then hear the soft clunking sounds of footsteps. Burn's pulse was racing; he couldn't believe that this had actually worked so well so far. Before too long, he could hear muttering and then what could only be the phone being handed over to someone.

"Burn-sama?" A feminine and mature voice answered.

"Listen, I don't know who you are, but I need you to do something for me..."

* * *

"...All right. Thank you." After a short eternity in Burn's opinion, the coach hung up with Burn's 'mother.' He didn't know what the random person had said to the coach, but she seemed to buy it.

"All right, Nagumo. Despite some difficulty, arrangements have been made, and I officially welcome you to the team."

"Thanks." Burn said, his confidence back and his precious worries cast away.

"Nagumo!" Endou took Burn's hand once more and shook it vigorously. "Welcome to the team!"

A sweatdrop appeared on his face along with a confused expression, but that was soon replaced by another grin. "Yeah." After all that-Burn had successfully infiltrated Raimon.

* * *

 **I do want to point out that while Hitomiko was/is involved in the Sun Garden orphanage at least to some extent, she clearly doesn't recognize Nagumo at all when he shows up, so I wrote this story with that in mind. He wouldn't be able to infiltrate Raimon if she had recognized him, after all.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Updating already? Yeesh, I should stop lifting you guys' expectations so high. I had to go back and change the last chapter 3 or 4 times after I posted it because I kept finding errors and things I had forgotten. Conclusion: don't stay up until 3:00 writing, kids.**

* * *

"All right, Nagumo, let me introduce the rest of the team members-"

But before Endou could finish his statement, a loud shout rang through the air. The team glanced around to look for what had caused the noise, most of them stopping at a point in the water. Burn followed their eyes to see a blur of pink holding a surfboard flying toward them through the air. Burn's jaw dropped. How the heck-?!

The pink blur turned into a person as it got closer and the person eventually landed smack in the middle of the group. He waved at everyone; despite the obvious shock on their faces, they seemed to recognize him. Burn stared warily at this stranger, studying him, which is why he jumped out of his skin when the beforementioned surfboard almost impaled him. He turned, about to chew out the idiot, but he was already talking to Endou.

"I joined my school's soccer team! I told them about you guys and now they wanna play you!"

"Really? Awesome! Can we play them, coach?" Endou turned to her expectantly with near puppy eyes.

The coach flipped her hair. "Absolutely not. I am trying to create the strongest team on earth. We will not waste time playing against a weak junior high team."

Burn smirked. So this was the Hitomiko he'd heard about. She certainly didn't shirk her work. As she, Endou, and Surfboard Guy discoursed between themselves, Burn leaned over to the scarf kid. "Who's he?"

"Tsunami Jousuke. We met him on the island we stopped at right before we got here to look for you. Megane fell over into the sea and Tsunami saved him." He gestured toward the useless-looking guy wearing glasses. "Then we kinda taught him to play soccer."

Burn sweatdropped. "I see." If this guy had just recently learned to play soccer, Burn could understand why Hitomiko wouldn't want to waste her time playing against them.

"Very well. We'll play against you."

Burn had to pause to make sure he'd heard that correctly. When he had ascertained that his ears were working, his jaw gaped. He must've missed something important in whatever she was talking about with Tsunami and Endou. "Seriously?" he couldn't help but wonder aloud.

"Yes, seriously." Hitomiko turned to him. "Nagumo, can you walk to your home from here?"

"Yeah." Burn said quickly. He couldn't have them driving him to his house-it didn't exist, after all. "Why?"

"I'd like you to go home and pack a bag of things to take with you for the trip. Just basic essentials. You can then come over and meet us at Oumihara Junior High." The coach explained.

Burn nodded. "Sure thing, coach. See ya there." He gave a salute and turned around. After his back was turned, his trademark smirk fell off his face. What was he supposed to do now? All he could do was walk and pretend to be going somewhere. Ah, well. He'd figure something out.

* * *

Hijikata stared at the back of Nagumo's bright red head as he walked away. Of course it was possible for him to not have seen him before, and for him to happen to have a fire-based strike, but he knew that the real flame striker was elsewhere. As Raimon Eleven poured onto the caravan, excitedly chattering about their new member, Hijikata stopped Hitomiko. "Coach, can I have a word with you?"

"Of course." She walked up to him, slightly away from the caravan.

He lowered his voice. "I'm suspicious of that boy. It's possible for us to just have never crossed paths before, but him having a flame strike just the same as _that person_ is a strange coincidence."

Hitomiko's expression turned grim. Well, grimmer, anyway. "So he really is here?"

Hijikata nodded. "He's gotten much stronger, too. But he can't join you, not yet."

"I see." Hitomiko sighed. "I'll keep a close eye on Nagumo. I wouldn't put it past Aliea to put a spy on our team. I don't want to falsely accuse him, though." Quieter, she mumbled to herself. "I don't want to cause more trouble than I already have."

"Eh? What did you say?" Hijikata questioned.

"Nothing." Hitomiko turned back toward the caravan, where Raimon was waiting. "If anything happens, contact me."

"Will do."

"Coach, what did Hijikata say?" Touko asked as Hitomiko climbed back into the bus.

"He was saying that if anything happened at Okinawa again, he would contact me." It wasn't necessarily a lie.

* * *

While Burn was silently brooding about what to do, walking around without a destination, his pocket vibrated suddenly. He took out his phone. "Gazel?" He questioned aloud as he read the name. "Oh, I guess he wants to know what that whole thing was about..." Bracing himself, he answered.

"What was that all about?" Yep, right as predicted.

"Well, Gazel, I have just successfully infiltrated Raimon!" Burn smirked, feeling quite proud of himself. He put his free hand on his hip and puffed out his chest, as if Gazel could see him. It probably looked hilarious to the passerby.

Gazel's response was not the congratulations that Burn expected, however. Instead, it was something more along the lines of: "WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING?!"

Burn recoiled, holding the phone away from his poor ears. It was not like Gazel to yell. Or curse. Yet he was doing both.

Burn yelled his own expletives into the receiver, starting with: "WHAT'S YOUR PROBLEM, BASTARD?"

By now, a few people had stopped to watch. All of them looked scared. People in Okinawa, after all, were not used to fighting. Or seriousness if any kind, for that matter.

After another stream of shouts, Gazel sighed. "Alright, let's calm down and be rational." Burn could imagine him stroking his hair on the other side of the phone.

"Be rational? CALM DOWN?! I AM PERFECTLY CALM!" Burn's eye twitched. He glared at the people watching him. They backed away immediately when they saw his eyes. They promised murder.

"I am going to wait until you stop shouting." His voice was calm. It was as if he hadn't been mad just seconds ago. This only served to irritate Burn further, but eventually, Burn calmed down as well.

"How?" Gazel asked simply.

Burn told him the whole story. Gazel listened patiently without interrupting. "So that's why you needed me to hand off the phone."

"Yeah. But now I'm stuck. The coach asked me to go home and pack." Burn clicked his tongue.

A pause. "Just find a store and buy clothes and a bag." Gazel said flatly.

Burn immediately felt like an idiot. Why hadn't he thought of that?! "I guess that'll have to do." Burn grumbled, failing to hide his annoyance.

He could practically hear Gazel rolling his eyes. "Gran is not going to be happy about this."

"Are you kidding? Why not?" Burn grinned. "We have eyes inside Raimon. I can disperse the threat before it even starts. This is one of my best ideas ever!"

"Is that really your reason? Or are you just doing this out of your own interests?" Gazel said, his tone darkening.

Burn narrowed his eyes. "Are you accusing me of acting against Aliea's interests?"

Gazel sighed. Neither captain said anything for quite some time. Finally, Burn broke the silence. "I appointed Nepper captain while I was gone. I'm in. They trust me, at least somewhat. I'm not giving up this chance." With that, Burn hung up.

Burn huffed, angrily shoving his hands in his pockets and kicking a rock. "Stupid Gazel. He has no idea what he's talking about."

Not that he'd ever admit it, but Gazel's idea was a good one. He started heading forward, looking around for anything resembling a store.

But Gazel's warning ring in his head. Was this really a good idea?


	3. Chapter 3

"Ah, Nagumo, you're finally here!" Endou waved energetically as Raimon's new striker walked up to the group. They were gathered on the side of the road next to what Burn could only assume was Oumihara Junior High-though it looked nothing even remotely like a school in his opinion. Even so, as he looked across the pier and at the clear glass-like water, he couldn't help but think that going to a school like this would be pretty cool. Gazel would probably appreciate the scenery better than him, though.

As everyone on the team chattered and looked around at the school with shimmering eyes, the coach fell into stride beside him. "Nagumo."

He grinned at her-no, it was more like a smirk. "Coach. How may I help you?"

"Because you just joined and you haven't had time to practice with the team at all, I'd like you to sit out on the sidelines for at least the first half. It will give you a chance to examine the team's gameplay so that you can better fit in on the field."

He refrained from clicking his tongue at the prospect of not getting to play. It made sense, but he'd examined Raimon's play style plenty back at Aliea Academy. Not that she needed to know that.

"Sounds like a plan." Burn gave the coach a small salute as he said this before walking a bit faster in order to catch up with the rest of the group. He thought he felt her eyes on his back, but brushed it off.

"This school is cool, isn't it?" Burn looked to his left to see the Lanky Kid Domon walking beside him, hands in his pockets.

"I suppose," he replied with a shrug. But as he took in the view a second time, he thought that yeah, this place was pretty awesome. Aliea was impressive, but even they didn't have a soccer field floating in the middle of the ocean.

When they reached the field in the middle of the school, however, there was no one there. Where was the other team?

Apparently, Goggle Genius Kidou had the same thoughts as him. "So in all of this, where is the crucial soccer team?" He asked, looking around the desolate green.

"Now that you mention it, I don't see anyone around..." Blue-haired Manager added.

The firecrackers that sounded immediately after she said this made everyone flinch a little. But the sudden shouts of "SURPRISE!", the random onslaught of people charging at them in all directions, and the near instantaneous set up of a banner that read "Welcome, Raimon Junior High" were a bit too much. The rest of Raimon seemed to share Burn's sentiments, as they all shared the same confusion and disappointment on their faces.

A burly, bandana-clad man rushed up to Endou. "Did we surprise you? Did we surprise you?"

"This man is their coach?" The Fancy Manager looked like she was ready to punch someone. She was twitching. Burn decided to take a step away from her.

"He rides to a good beat, don't you think?" Tsunami cheerfully said, ignorant of Natsumi's distaste.

"A good beat? What does that even mean?" Burn grumbled.

The Bandana Man stopped his musings of 'surprise' when he spotted Hitomiko. He rushed over to her. "You must be the coach! It's such an honor to meet you here! Ah, the leadership you showed during the Football Frontier!"

"Eh?" The team said in unison. Burn had to clasp a hand over his mouth to keep himself from bursting into laughter. This guy was a complete joke!

"...I'd love to hear about it! Perhaps at a dinner under the lovely stars. Coachly ways of a coach!"

Hitomiko smiled. "Why, thank you. I'll be sure to pass your words on to Coach Hibiki."

The look of sheer terror on Bandana Man's face was too much. By now, Burn was nearly doubled over covering his mouth and laughing hard enough that only air was coming out. Fubuki looked very concerned for his teammate. "U-Um, Nagumo-san, are you okay?" But poor Burn could not stop to answer.

Clad in a brand new Raimon uniform, Burn sat on the bench looking at the circle of players in front of him. The game was about to start.

"I wonder where Kakuma is?" Green Manager said all of the sudden.

Burn blinked. "Kakuma?"

"Oh, he's Raimon's...commentator, I suppose," she explained. "He's somehow managed to make it to our games all over the country, even if they aren't public."

Burn sweatdropped. "That's...certainly loyalty."

A few seconds passed.

And then a guy spontaneously exploded out of a giant coconut off to the side. Burn nearly fell off the bench in shock. Just how weird where all these people?!

"Our formation will have Megane and Rika as a two-top," Kidou explained. Burn huffed to himself. Those two had to be the weakest on the team. He would do a better job by himself than those two combined. But it couldn't be helped for now. He did find it interesting, however, that Kidou was the one commanding the team instead of the coach. She must really not be taking this game seriously-not that he blamed her.

And with a few more inspiring words from Endou, the team was off to their positions. The game would start soon. Ah, well. Might as well focus on the game, despite how hard it was to ignore the coach's annoying chanting. In fact, Natsumi's tried to get up and leave because it bothered her so much. The other managers stopped her from doing so, however. Burn just chuckled. Raimon was certainly lively. He could get used to that.

As soon as he had that thought, he shot it down immediately. Get used to that? Hah! He was a superior being. The only reason he was here was to collect data and break the team from the inside if necessary, all for Aliea's glory. He'd gone through plenty of trouble already to get where he was, and he wanted to pay the soccer idiots back for it later.

Furukabu blew the whistle, and the game began.


	4. Chapter 4

Were these Oumihara people _seriously_ supposed to be soccer players? Every way Burn looked, all he saw were a bunch of idiots. A kid in front of him fumbled the ball. Over there, someone missed a pass. But the worst part-they weren't even trying! They didn't care they slightest whenever they made a mistake, and they kept marveling stupidly at Raimon's plays. In fact, all they were doing was goof off! Burn was so irked by Oumihara's actions that he didn't observe Raimon much. Not that he really needed to.

He wasn't the only one who was irritated by their airheadedness, it seemed, because Natsumi stood up to leave. The other two managers stood and grabbed onto her, pulling her back. He wished that he could leave.

With a sigh, he turned his eyes back to the sea of idiots scrambling about. Wait...one of them wasn't moving. Burn looked over to a kid with light blue hair, glasses, and headphones. He simply stood while the rest of his team messed around, his finger moving as if to a beat. To a beat...? He couldn't be... Burn laughed at himself. There was no way that guy was counting Raimon's rhythm.

Rika ran up, charging toward the ball. It was clear that she'd be able to get it. But then-

"Raise up the tempo! 8 beats!"

With those words from Headphone Guy, the guy on the other team was able to easily push past her. Did he say something about there being no way he was counting Raimon's rhythm? Oh. Never mind, then. That's _definitely_ what this guy was doing. Burn was almost impressed-but as soon as the rest of Raimon figured out, all they had to do was change their rhythm.

Burn watched as Raimon's plays slowly started crumbling. The forwards charged past them easily, even avoiding Touko's hissatsu. However, the Aliea captain could tell as soon as he saw their hissatsu shoot that it wasn't powerful enough to break past Endou. Sure enough, he caught it easily with Majin the Hand.

Instead of being upset about their shoot being blocked, however, all of Oumihara's team burst into a cheer of "Yay!" In the distance, the coach congratulated Endou on his save. Burn sweatdropped. He didn't know how much more he could take. The celebration on Raimon's part was short lived, though. As soon as Rika got past Tsunami, their plays started to dissolve again. Burn sighed in disappointment. He thought that at least one person on Raimon would've been able to figure it out, but it looks like that was not the case.

Or...maybe one of them had. Burn caught Kidou staring at the Headphone Guy with furrowed eyebrows. The next time the game got paused, the goggles playmaker gathered all of Raimon's players around the goal, explaining something to them. Burn smirked to himself. At least _one_ of Raimon's players was living up to his expectations.

After that, it didn't take long for Raimon to get the game back on their side again. However, the change in their rhythm was the same every time; Burn knew it wouldn't take long for Headphone Guy to figure that out. Oh well-the game was almost over, anyway.

* * *

Burn was honestly a little bit disappointed that he didn't get to play in the practice match at all. As he suspected, Headphone Guy had indeed been able to pick out the irregularity in their rhythm and been able to work around it. Raimon was still able to hold out, though, and in the end, they won. Endou had even grasped the edges of what could turn into a new hissatsu. Interesting, Burn thought. Very interesting.

At the end, though, the overly-friendly Oumihara team had prepared a barbecue for Raimon. Burn was not looking forward to that. Well, everything except for the food part. He was excited about that. Just not the forced socialization.

Still, he couldn't help but watch the antics of the others, drink in hand. Raimon and Oumihara had just fought against each other, but here they were, chatting it up happily with one another. In one corner, Kidou was talking with Headphone Guy about what Burn could only assume was his tactic. Tsunami and Endou seemed to be excited about something, because they were quite animated. Fubuki was even being hit on by the short Shell Girl.

It perplexed him.

His emotions must have shown on his face, because he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned around to face the Prime Minister's daughter. "Can I help you...?"

"What's with you, grumpy face?" ...Grumpy face? "You're standing out here by yourself. Aren't you gonna talk to anyone?" She tilted her head as she asked.

Burn stared at her, unsure if he should voice his thoughts. He took a sip of his fruit juice-which was actually quite delicious-and shrugged a bit.

"Well, come talk with everyone, then," she said, as if it were the most obvious thing ever.

Burn furrowed his brow. "I don't get it. You just fought against these people. Why are you all getting along so well with them?"

Touko looked at him as if he were crazy. "What do you mean?"

"It's just like I said."

"...Well...we're not playing against them anymore. After everything's over, we're all friends. I'm sure that's what Endou would say." She grinned upon saying the captain's name, but Burn could still see a hint of condescendence in her eyes.

"Touko! Come over here!" Rika suddenly called out from a short ways away, waving. Touko shouted a response and ran over to her friend.

Burn looked over at everyone else once more, scanning the crowd, but this time, he pondered Touko's words. Raimon was certainly different.


	5. Chapter 5

Burn looked around the caravan, observing the members carefully. When he was sure that no one was about to start screaming anytime soon, he allowed himself to lean back in his seat, releasing a huge sigh of relief. Everyone was _finally_ being quiet after what had seemed like an eternity of loud, jumbled voices. Now that it was dark, and late, everyone had become tired. Anyone who wasn't sleeping was playing on a phone or listening to music. He made a mental note to invest in some headphones the next time they stopped somewhere. The silence was more than welcome, though. He settled on leaning his head back against the seat, resting his eyes.

He woke up to someone nudging him. He rubbed his eyes, yawning. He was having a good dream, too. "What do you want?" He snapped, scowling.

"It's time for breakfast, Nagumo-kun." Burn froze, slowly looking up into Hitomiko's eyes.

"Uh...okay," he stammered. He stood quickly, scrambling out the door.

"Ah-hah! He rolls out!" Burn's nose wrinkled at Tsunami's voice. Said person ran up to him, waving around a bottle of water in one hand and a banana in the other, talking a mile a minute. "I can't believe you sassed Coach like that, hahaha! Oh, yeah-there's fresh fruit today! Come get some!

"Sure, whatever."

"Not a morning person, I take it?" Fubuki chuckled.

Burn rolled his eyes. He'd said it before and he was sure he'd say it again; these people were _way_ too cheerful for their own good.

After he'd eating his fill (thankfully in privacy), he turned his attention to Tsunami. He furrowed his brow as he watched the idiot trip, only to laugh and get right back up. He admitted that there was definitely potential in the defender, but right now, he was still an amateur player. He didn't understand why the coach kept plucking up soccer players with mediocre talent, and seemingly with no reservations. Well, she had accepted Burn after all. His infiltration admittedly could've gone better if he'd planned it in advance, as Gazel had lectured him. Not that he'd ever admit that Gazel was right.

He shook his head, returning to the task at hand. Tsunami Jousuke. A new player that Aliea didn't yet have any information on. He narrowed his eyes. He needed to send in some data about him to Aliea, but he hasn't expected him to join Inazuma, and hadn't payed too much attention to him during the game with Oumihara. He had some, but it wasn't enough. He'd have to pay close attention to him for long enough to get information. He wanted to prove to Gazel and Gran and all the other stupid doubters that infiltrating Raimon was a good move.

An idea crossed his mind-one that would help him get his information _and_ help Raimon trust him further. He stood, walking over to where Tsunami and Endou were chatting away.

"Yo, Tsunami-san," he interrupted. Neither seemed to mind. Weirdos.

"Yo, Nagumo! What's up?" He turned to face him, smiling energetically.

"We're the two newest members, so we ought to look out for each other. Want to practice together later?"

"Oh, good idea!" Tsunami's grin grew wider. Before Burn could react, an arm was slung around his shoulder and he was graced with a noogie. "Let's do it!"

It took every fiber in his being for Burn to not break Tsunami's arm, but he managed to resist-barely-by mentally screaming his frustrations.

 _Let_ _go_ _you_ _stupid_ _human!_ _You_ _think_ _you_ _can_ _be_ _all buddy-buddy with me?_

Endou blinked and stared at Burn with concern on his face. "Are you alright, Nagumo? You look really angry. Are you constipated or something?"

"No, I'm fine," he managed to say through his grit teeth, forcing a smile-well, maybe more of a smirk, but does anyone expect any different-on his face as his eye twitched.

Tsunami let out a hearty laugh, finally releasing Burn from his torture. "That's good!"

"Yeah. I'm gonna go now." He managed to command his eye to stop twitching long enough to walk away within an acceptable margin of time.

"See you!" "Bye!" The two soccer freaks called out in unison, waving frantically.

Burn suppressed a groan and resisted the urge to facepalm. These people were just so _annoying_. He needed to take a walk.

He did just that, managing to put himself an acceptable distance from every one of those soccer freaks and still remain close enough to the caravan. When he finally got far away enough so that he couldn't hear their annoying chatter, he sat down, leaning against a tree trunk. He allowed himself the silence again for a good long while, enjoying the slight breeze that came with it. He scoffed at himself.

"Never thought I'd be one to like stupid things like the quiet."

"Indeed."

Burn's eyes widened. He let out a yelp as he sprung to his feet, looking around frantically. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted cherry-red hair.

"Gran! Geez!"

Gran chuckled lightly. "Sorry, did I scare you?"

"No way," Burn grumbled. "What are you doing here?"

Gran blinked before shrugging dismissively. "Raimon's quite interesting, aren't they?"

"No, not really. They're quite annoying is what they are. And don't change the subject!"

Another chuckle. "You seem to be getting quite friendly with them though."

Burn rolled his eyes. "It's all an act, obviously."

Gran smiled. "I'm just checking up on you."

Burn raised an eyebrow, laughing. "Since when do you care?"

"I don't. I'm checking up on you to let you know that you'd better not do anything bad to Raimon." Suddenly the smile was gone from his face. "This was a foolish idea, Burn."

Burn scowled. He knew this was coming. "It was not! You're just letting your stupid admiration for your precious Raimon get in the way of your judgement."

Gran grit his teeth, the volume of his voice elevating. "How dare you say that to me?!"

"I'm right, aren't I?!" Burn smirked at the tiny flinch this earned from Gran, but it was short-lived.

Gran gave Burn a nasty glare, his fists and teeth both clenched together. He stood that way for several seconds, and Burn thought he might have been close to attacking him. After he stepped back away from the threat, however, Gran seemed to calm down. He sighed, turning away from Burn and putting his hands in his pockets.

"You should return. They're probably planning to leave soon." Burn didn't have a chance to respond before Gran had walked away and disappeared from sight.

Kicking stones on the path to release his anger, he reached the caravan before too long. Sure enough, everyone was beginning to file back in.

"Ah! Nagumo! Just in time. We were about to go look for you," Endou said with a grin.

Burn plastered on a smile of his own. It was an unusual feeling to make that expression. "Sorry. Lost track of time."

"Ah, don't worry about it. If you don't hurry all the window seats will get taken!" Endou said as he wrestled his way onto the bus.

Burn could feel his eye twitching for the second time that day as he watched everyone climb over each other and squabble in an attempt to get on.

Maybe this really was gonna be harder than he thought.

* * *

 **Some may be wondering, "What happened to the Epsilon game?" Don't worry, that'll be addressed. But I suppose you'll have to stick around to find out, right? Mwahaha...**

 **(I'm so sorry for leaving all my stories hanging for 8 months)**


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